Jilin Province Prison Brutally Persecutes Falun Gong Practitioners and Deprives Them of Their Rights

In China, release on bail for medical treatment is the procedure for all detainees when they are in critical condition. It is the right of all detainees, including actual criminals, and is clearly specified in China's law. For many years, Jilin Province Prison has broken this law, trampled human rights and treated human life as worthless. They have brutally persecuted imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. When many practitioners' lives were in great danger due to the persecution, the prison not only failed to provide medical treatment, but also did not allow the practitioners to be released on bail for medical treatment. Moreover, they secretly stipulated that 10 per cent of deaths for imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners could be considered reasonable and acceptable for the prison.

The main culprits include former wardens Li Qiang and Liu Wei and police officers Wang Yuanchun and Li Yongsheng. They even announced publicly, “In Jilin Province Prison, if we let you live for six days, you will be dead for less than 5 days.” These are not just arrogant words, but the reality of Jilin Prison's brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. In the past 13 years, 20 Falun Gong practitioners have been directly or indirectly persecuted to death by Jilin Prison, including Liu Chengjun, Lei Ming, Cui Weidong, Zhang Jianhua, Hao Yingqiang, Liang Zhenxing, He Yuanhui, Wang Guiming (who was beaten nonstop for eight days and nights), Sun Changde, Lin Shixiong, Wang Qibo, Cao Hongyan, Yang Guang, Xu Baiyi, Xin Yanjun, Zhang Jingzhong, Wei Xiushan, Liu Zhijun, Jin Chengquan, Chang Yuke, and others. Even more practitioners were tortured until they became disabled or mentally disordered. And these are just limited statistics currently available.

The brutal persecution continues to this day. Recently, the prison has been releasing other detainees on bail for medical treatment, but they refuse to do the same for practitioners severely injured by persecution even though they met the requirements for release on bail long ago. The prison has refused to grant practitioners Sun Changjun, Zhang Hongwei, Ao Yongjie, Sui Fuxue, and others “release on bail for medical treatment.” All these practitioners have been brutally persecuted for a long time, and many are in critical condition.

The captain and guards in the 11th ward (where elderly and disabled prisoners are detained) of the prison said, “Because you keep on practising Falun Gong, do not give up your beliefs, do not write the three statements, and refuse to admit your are guilty, we won't grant you release on bail for medical treatment!”

Falun Gong practitioners who follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance have not committed any crime and should not be imprisoned at all. They have been imprisoned and brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They not only have the right to release for medical treatment, they should be released unconditionally. All the government departments and individuals involved should be held legally responsible.

Deputy warden An Tonghai, Prison Hospital dean Hou Yanfeng, Li Weilin from the Penalty and Torture Section, Sun Wen from the Release on Bail Committee, and a former prison hospital dean are the ones responsible for releasing prisoners on bail for medical treatment. They have actively participated in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners for many years. Practitioners have been tortured with brutal force-feeding. When they got sick, the prison refused to release them on bail for medical treatment. They tortured the practitioners who did not cooperate with them in many extreme ways exceeding human limits. Sun Wen is the police officer responsible for the death of practitioners Lin Shixiong, Hao Yingqiang, Yang Guang, and Wang Qibo.

Below are brief descriptions of the persecution that some of the practitioners imprisoned at Jilin Prison suffered for many years. (Because of the information blockade, the following account is far from complete.)

1. Mr. Sun Changjun, 36, was sentenced to 17 years for broadcasting a truth clarification video in Changchun City. He has been imprisoned for almost 10 years. On his first night in Jilin Prison, officer Li Yongsheng incited prisoners to break one of his ribs. In 2003, he was put in the confined room for 70 days and brutally persecuted because he insisted on his belief in Falun Gong. He lost 20 kilograms. He spit out large quantities of blood due to tuberculosis, and both lungs collapsed. He had pleurisy, peritonitis, tuberculosis, chest effusion, abdominal effusion, and many other illnesses. His life was in great danger, but the prison refused to release him on bail for medical treatment because he refused to write the three statements to give up his belief. His current condition is a little better but he still needs medical treatment.

2. Mr. Ye Songchang, 57, is from Tonghua. He has been imprisoned for more than a decade. Because he was firm in his belief in Falun Gong, he was detained in the brainwashing centre and a confinement room. In the brainwashing centre, he was forced to sit still with his legs and back straight from 5 a.m. till 9 p.m. Two prisoners who were sent to monitor him found all kinds of excuses to beat him. The collaborators kept harassing him. Later he was put in the confinement room and persecuted for 57 days straight, which caused him to develop serious tuberculosis. Long-term brutal persecution also caused his lungs to collapse, but the prison refused to release him on bail for medical treatment.

3. Mr. Zhang Hongwei, over 40, is from Tonghua. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2001 because he produced materials exposing the persecution in Beijing. He has been imprisoned for almost 12 years. He was imprisoned in Tiebei Prison in Changchun City in 2001. He went on a hunger strike for 53 days to protest the persecution. In March 2002, he was transferred to Jilin Prison and brutally persecuted. He was held in the confinement room for over two years. He was restrained on the death bed, hung up, brutally beaten and put on the “stretching bed” more than once. The prison also refused to allow his family to visit him. His family members appealed to the procuratorate. Mr. Zhang was not released from the confinement room until August 2004. His condition was already critical at that time and he had severe tuberculosis, but the prison refused to release him on bail for medical treatment.

4. Mr. Ao Yongjie, 47, is a practitioner from Inner Mongolia. He was sentenced to prison twice for practicing Falun Dafa. The first time he was imprisoned for three years. In 2007, he was arrested for the second time and sentenced to seven years in prison. Later he was incarcerated in Jilin Prison and brutally persecuted. He became severely ill. The prison performed a tracheotomy without notifying his family members to get the authorisation and without a proper diagnosis. Afterward, the incision did not heal for a long time and he developed ulcers. The wound got infected and the surrounding flesh turned black. He was sent to the hospital and diagnosed with tuberculosis scrofula. Last year he was diagnosed with lymphatic tuberculosis with the right lung collapsed. His life was in great danger and the infection from the wound started to spread. Although he was in critical condition, the prison still tried to deny responsibility and refused to release him on bail for medical treatment.

5. 78-year-old Mr. Sui Fuxue has been imprisoned in the 11th prison ward. On February 17th, 2011, he had severe gastrointestinal illness and was hospitalized at the 465 Hospital in Jilin Province. Although he is old and severely ill, the prison still tortured him and refused to release him on bail for medical treatment, just because he insisted on his belief in Falun Gong.

6. Mr. Zou Yubin suffered from severe tuberculosis and swelling of the head and foot. Although he was in critical condition, the prison did not release him on bail for medical treatment. He has now finished his term and has been released.

Police in the 11th ward of Jilin Prison (for detaining elderly and disabled prisoners):

Liu Derong, captain
Sun Zhigang, deputy captain, in charge of “transforming” Falun Gong practitioners
Guards Liu Qian, Zhang Yong, Zhang Jianjun, Qi Zhonglei, Wang Libo, Xu Zhijian, Cui Chengzhe, Pan Ye